Strange Time on the Cut

I've noticed that Friday's tend to be the windiest day of the week over the last month or so. This can be a bit a nuisance at times especially when lure fishing. Trying to cast close to the edge with out the braid getting blown over the bankside vegetation or drop a light lure into a gap on the far bank is rather fraught. As I was using quite heavy lures to start with this wasn't so much of a problem but the wind was also blowing debris about as well. Still I persisted. Following suggestions from @UTSurfaceMike I was starting with a spinnerbait which soon attracted a pike which followed the bait for a yard or two before turning away. This happened five times over the next hour or so. One even shot out of the the lilies creating a bow wave as in followed. They never had another look at it though.The pike were anything from a pounder to a good double. It didn't matter if the sun was out or not, or what colour bait was used.

On the way back I tried a couple of surface baits and a jerk bait The surface baits were attacked a couple of times by small jacks but I never managed to make the hooks stick. Spotting three large perch I clipped a spinnerbait back on. As it passed in front of them, a couple of feet away,  they turned tail and disappeared. This happened again with two slightly smaller perch, but a couple no bigger than the spinnerbait accompanied it in. Between the pike and perch things were looking a bit bizarre. There were quite a few shoals of roach swimming about now. Anything from 3-4" up to hand sized. This made me think the predators may not be active. Time for cuppa and a rethink.

After a leisurely cuppa I headed back, but this time I also had a perch rod with me. I'd rigged it up with a mono leader and a small white HTO bug. When I got to the bridge I flicked it into the water to see what it's action looked like. I hadn't even got the bail arm over when a jack shot up and grabbed it as it fell through the water. A bit of a battle ensued on the light perch rod as 65cm of very fit jack shot about before been safely netted. Thankfully it was lip hooked. Another attempt to see the action of the lure resulted in a perch, the intended quarry. To be honest the lure didn't seem to do much as I twitched it through the water, but a little jack thought it looked edible. This one had engulfed the lure and damaged the mono so I switched to a steel trace. I'd put the mono one on hoping it would allow the lure to have more action, but as it appeared to do very little and the jacks were on the prowl I thought steel would be safer. A bit more jigging along the edge of the barge moorings resulted in a couple more perch and another little jack.

As bites had dried up I wandered toward the next bridge casting the little bug about. The only take I got was from a tiny tiny little pike about 6-7" long.  It hadn't actually been hooked but had hold of the paddle at the back of the lure. As I went to swing it in it came adrift taking the paddle with it. I couldn't find another one so swapped to a small pearl white grub. A few swims further on I spotted a large perch which snatched the lure as I twitched it past. It didn't put up much of a fight as it was spawned out. Even though it was 40cm long it was very hollow, as expected, and only weighed 2lb 7oz. Still a very nice fish. I'd unhooked it in the net and thrown the lure to one side. When I went to move the rod a little perch had attached it's self to the lure. Not quite the brace shot I'd of liked but still.

The fish Around the next bridge seemed to be nearly all roach apart from a couple of skimmers. A bit of jigging along the brick work produced another small perch and a another tiny jack.

The big girls were obviously not feeding but It still turned into a reasonable session even if one or two of the fish were rather fluky. Quite why the perch were scared of the spinnerbaits, or the pike were following them but not attacking I'll really don't know.

A Quick Reconnaissance Trip

 I've been working my way along a local canal, with varying success, over the last few weeks in search of pike and perch. The perch have been rather elusive, but the small jacks have provided some fun. I'd deliberately avoided one section as I'd assumed it would get a lot of hammer. Following some very useful and comprehensive information I decide to have a very brief wander down there. I took a couple of rods in case I spotted anything worth casting too. The first thing to greet me as I got to the cut was a cob protecting his family having a rest by the bridge. I could also hear a deer barking somewhere in the trees.

Looking down from the bridge there was a fair number of small roach swimming about, along with a lot of small perch. Twitching a lure among them produced several hits but no hook ups. As I wandered along there was similar sized fish to be found at various points along the length., but nothing of any size. I did have the occasional chuck of the lures in some likely looking spots but nowt was hungry apart from a small jack. By now I'd reached the next bridge and had to be heading back soon. A ludicrously bad cast clattered the lure into the bridge. Initially the lure looked OK but closer inspection revealed it had been cracked. Being through wired I reckoned it would be OK to have another go at one of the fish loitering under the bridge. A very tiny little jack was what I got from among the perch and roach I'd seen.

There were signs the stretch had been fished but not excessively. It is however very weedy so it's shallow running lures or weedless rigs by the looks of it. Maybe a surface lure would work. I think it will be well worth a go later in the week.

Some Surgery Required

After a rather unpleasant task this morning I called in at a local stillwater with a light pike set up to see if I could attract a pike or two. I arrived just as the expected heavy downpour was easing off. A look at the weather app showed more rain was expected an hour or so later. The rain was sweeping across earlier than the forecast early this morning. For some reason my waterproof was missing from the car as well. I decided to risk it. I worked my way pound the pond trying a variety of lures to no avail.  Running a Salmo Frisky along side a fallen tree I thought I'd snagged a branch or something. A skinny jack pike broke surface with out any fuss at all it was netted.

 

There was was good reason the it's skinniness and lethargy. As I removed the lure I noticed a trace down it's throat. A slow pull reviled a large single hook which was easily removed as the point had been cut off. How ever had hooked the pike had clearly tried to remove the rig, but not completed the task. Another slow steady pull and the treble on the end of the rig came free, it hadn't taken hold in the jacks stomach. I poked the stomach back down with the forceps and let the fish rest in the landing net for ten minutes as it started to drizzle. After ten minutes it was trying to swim off with the landing net so I released it. The rain was now stating to get heavier. So I called it a day.

I don't know why only part of the job was done, maybe lack of confidence. Anyway it should survive. I've done this type of surgery before and one of the pike I did it on was caught again on several occasions over a few years eventually exceeding twenty pounds.

Big(ish) Pike on Light Tackle

 A short session on a canal on a very sunny morning with gin clear water probably isn't the best idea. Somebody told me a few boats had gone through yesterday so I assumed there would be a little bit of colour in the water. As I looked down from the bridge I could see the bottom  so there was at least three foot of visibility. As it doesn't get much more than three foot deep I don't know how far you'd be able to see. I was doubting the information I'd got but a dog walker confirmed at least one barge had come down the previous day. So armed with my perch set up off I went.

The perceived wisdom is bright day bright colour for your lure. A white and silver sparkly shad went on. One of the problems I quickly found was that a lot of debris had been washed to the bank and trying to run the lure close to the reeds invariably end when some was snagged, Most of the time I had to run the lure two or three feet from the reeds. I watched a small shoal of small tench appear out of a cloud of disturbed silt. These were the first fish I'd seen. They gave me the idea to change to a dark lure so a brown with gold sparkles was chosen. First cast with it over to the far bank and I was in. Before I could do anything the pike had dived into a cabbage patch. I saw the pike zoom off, but my lure wasn't going with it. I'd just about reached the end of my time when I spotted a good size pike moving along about a third of the way across. I flicked the lure four foot ahead of it and about half way across. Bouncing the lure along the bottom so it sent up small clouds of silt. The pike seemed to ignore it, just swimming steadily along. The pike swam past the lure then suddenly turned sending up a cloud of silt. It hit the lure and shot off back from whence it came. After each run just as I thought it was beat off it went again. half a dozen runs later it was in the net, just, I nearly didn't lift the net fast enough and it nearly got back over the rim. At 83cm a nice pike which felt heavier than it looked.. It felt like it might go to double figures so out with the weigh sling and it was a pound below at 9lb.

A nice way to end the session given how bright it was and how clear the water was. I'm surprised how quickly the colour had dropped out of it as being so shallow the boats do stir up some silt.

A Trip Down The Canal, Literally

For this session on a canal I decided to concentrate on fishing around some of the stone structures with small jigs in the hope of some perch. There are plenty of features, like reeds, etc, along the rest of the canal but these just seemed to produce pike. Because of the bankside vegetation some stretches have very few swims that accessible. While one end of the canal is like most canals with hard banks a foot or two above the water, as you getting further along it changes. Instead of building locks they simply dug deeper, so it looks more like a spate river with steep high banks. These have become overgrown with bramble and hawthorn in the main hiding the stone bank.

The first bridge  produced a perch after a couple of casts immediately followed by a little jack to a Fox Rage Spikey Shad. Then another little perch. Despite trying several different lures nothing else was forthcoming. On the way back to the car I spotted an adder as it disappeared into the undergrowth. I also saw a Greater White Throat, apparently. This information was given me by a couple of bird spotters ornithologists, A couple of youngsters who really didn't like the former term, I told them about the Adder. They had seen a few about in recent weeks and like me were surprised no dogs had been bitten by one as it's a popular dog-walking spot.

The next spot has a couple of stone structures and a bridge so I had high hopes for it. At the stone landing I hooked and lost a reasonable pike. The hook coming adrift after a couple of fearsome runs. Another was lost thrashing about under the rod tip where I'd hooked it. On the way back to the bridge I spotted a jack cruising along the edge of the reeds near an accessible spot. It ignored the jig three times before I put on a Salmo Minnow, One twitch as I brought it past it's nose and it was hit hard. Thankfully it kited out into the middle rather than dive into the reeds,  After a bit of acrobatics it was in the net. It had quite a deep scar in front of it's anal fin. This was probably from the otter that had been seen heading the way previously. Otherwise it seemed to be fighting fit.

The stone work round the bridge produced a little jack to the Fox Rage Spikey Shad first cast. There then followed  half a dozen perch in quick succession. Bouncing the jig along the bottom close to the wall produce the goods. A barge then passed under the bridge and the bites dried up. It then started to rain.

There had been a bit of drizzle in among the sunshine but his was reasonable heavy. I sheltered under the bridge tossing the lure out towards the reeds on the other side. At first I thought I'd snagged a branch until it got half way back. Another reasonable jack then suddenly woke up and careered about before giving up and coming to the net. This too had what looked like an otter bite near it's tail.

On the way to the next bit of structure I decided try a rather nice looking reed fringed swim. The damp grass and a misstep had me lose my balance as I headed down the steep bank. I wasn't quick enough to throw the rod away and came down on it. Remarkably the rod was OK but I'd broken the stem of the reel. So that was that.

Apart from the broken reel it wasn't a bad session. This isn't the first time I've broken the stem on a reel. The other two times I'd simply dropped them. One was a Mitchell 410 and the other Shimano. Unlike this one they were both metal.

Match Hours On An Estate Lake

 After last weeks change of plan I ended up where I should have been last week, but this wasn't the plan for today either. Today's plan didn't involve fishing as such, but things altered so I was at the tackle shop at open time for some bait and a few bits and pieces. The plan was a spot of float fishing maggots for whatever. I'd be fishing match hours, 10ish to 4ish. After a bit of plumbing about I found the edge of a none to distinct ledge four rod lengths out with 4' 6" of water. I also set up a method feeder to chuck out in the middle to see if anything took a fancy, This was set on an alarm as I didn't expect much action from it.

A mix of red and brown crumb with dead reds and chopped worm was made up to feed the swim and half a dozen small balls were chucked out to start with. Hook bait was double maggots of various colours, though I also had caster and worm. The first problem of the day was the strong breeze blowing down the lake, left to right to me. I'd been advised that fishing just off the bottom was generally the best until the skimmers move in. Because of the strong breeze and the shallowness of the lake you get quite an undertow and the float was moving right to left. While this produced the odd bite it was from tiny rudd, roach or dinky perch., none of which were easy to hit. The only solution was to add a number eight shot 4" from the hook and fish 6" over-depth.

It took the swim a little while to get going, but it was nearly a fish a chuck, only small fish, when it did get going. You could tell the fish by the bite. The float shot away with the perch. The roach bites were a sharp dip and the rudd caused the float to skate across the surface. You'd get three or four fish then a few silly bites before hooking fish again. Casters just got shelled and worm produced the tiniest of perch when I tried them.

After lunch the skimmers turned up. The float would just slowly disappear. Strike before it was underwater and you'd miss. The only problem with these beasties is the snot left on the line. I'd been feeding a golf-ball size ball of ground ball every 30 minutes up to this point, but stepped it up to every 20 minutes. Things then went slightly awry. I bumped three reasonable sized bream in as many casts. The last one coming adrift just beyond the net. The rig ended up wrapped around a willow branch. I had no choice but to re-rig. The skimmers kept on coming and getting bigger, along with the odd roach and rudd. The bites were further apart than earlier. In the mean time the method rod had done very little. Five bites resulted in three middling sized skimmers. As planned I stopped at four. The bites had been slowing for the last hour anyway.

With three middling skimmers removed the fish weighed 11lb 6oz. Not sure what a good weight from here is really. It may have won me a section. Who knows. Apart from the carp angler there were three other anglers all catching. One on feeder seemed to be taking a few as the day wore on. A pole angler seemed to b catch a few more than me.  The third didn't seem to be catching much but he didn't arrive until the afternoon. It didn't seem a bad net of fish considering I wasn't trying to hard.